Drawing with Beads

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Flowers in Fall Colors

As the summer winds down the flowers that are still blooming seem much more colorful than they did when the greens of the trees and grasses were so vibrant. The Pantone fall color palette has a rich orange called Koi that for me represents the color essence of autumn. From gourds and leaves to spiders and Monarch butterflies the color is everywhere. Even though I am more of a purple person the influence of the season always has an affect on my bead work. My color choices and subject matter often reflect nature. I make components like flowers and leaves because I can jump around to different palettes without having to work on one specific project. Eventually I end up with enough parts that I combine together into a finished work. I feel this approach gives the bead work a more organic feel than it would if I followed a set pattern. Sometimes when I see a flower I get a flash of inspiration as to how I could make it out of beads, not giving much thought to its still to be determined use.One of the flowers that is still blooming in my garden is a Gaillardia. The red-orange and cadmium yellow petals gave me an excuse to buy more beads.

At first I had used red lined amber drop beads for the center, but they were too bright. After a few mixes of red, amber, matte etc. I decided on a purple lined amber color drop bead for the center.

A nice thing about working in components is the ability to change the overall look by changing pieces.

I made the flower in size 15 seed beads using a flat peyote stitch. The first try was a nice blend of colors but the petals didn't have enough orange or picot to properly represent the petals edges. I added a center to that base and made a completely different kind of flower. I like the effect even if it does not resemble a live bloom.